What’s Next On My Reading List?
I don’t read enough.
Well, actually, I read all the time – a news article here, a blog post there, and my daily dose of whatever Kidzilla is reading aloud. But all too often lately, I don’t get to sit and read something of my choosing for any extended period of time.
Or maybe it’s just that I don’t take the time to sit and read. That’s probably more accurate.
I’ve seen several blog posts lately about books and checked out a few book reviews, too. Since Mama Kat is calling for book lists this week, I figured now is as good a time as any to jump in and re-commit to some serious daily reading habits.
I’m just about to put my Persia Woolley Guinevere trilogy to bed (finally!), so I’m ready to move on to some new material. Here’s what’s next on the pile:
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The top two books on the pile are by Papa Hemingway. I’ve been chatting about Hemingway a bit lately with Eli from Coach Daddy. One of the things we talked about was how some books read differently each time you revisit them and these are two of my favorites in that category.
The first is The Old Man and the Sea, a book with which I have a serious love/hate relationship. Old Man was my first foray in to the world of Hemingway. It was in my sophomore year of high school… I was fifteen years old, had serious ADHD (but was nearly 25 years from knowing it), and a raging case of teenage girlmones. A book about a dude in a boat chasing a fish he can’t catch? And he’s too stupid to figure out he needs to just go home, have a beer, and call it a day? Whatever.
I complained about the book to my Father and told him that Hemingway was quite possibly the worst author on the planet and Old Man was by far his worst book. After all, as a high school sophomore, I was surely an expert. But my Father, who also happened to be an avid reader, suggested that perhaps I was reading the wrong Hemmingway at the wrong time. He pulled an anthology off his shelf, turned to “The Snows of Kilimanjaro,” and said, “Give this a try.”
I remember sitting in the plaid swivel armchair in his family room and reading it straight through. I loved it. Don’t ask me why, but that one worked for me. My Father suggested that after we finished studying the Old Man in school, I should put it on my shelf and read it again someday far down the road. I never forgot that. No matter what else came and went from my shelf, I kept that book for years until one day I did indeed read it again. It was a very different book. I’ve re-read it many times since then. I still sometimes think Santiago should just call it a day and head for the cantina, but other times…not so much.
The other Hemingway is A Moveable Feast. I bought it because it was in a scene from the movie City of Angels and I was intrigued by its inclusion, so I picked it up. I probably have to watch the movie again to remember why it was interesting to me or what the actual connection to the novel was, so I’ll save that for another day.
Next on the pile is Lara Honos-Webb’s The Gift of ADHD. This was on my wish list and my Mom happened to give it to me as a gift without even knowing it. From what I have read about the book and about her, Dr. Honos-Webb’s ideas are much like the way I see ADD/ADHD – it is a blessing, not a curse, and can be a very positive force in its owner’s life if embraced and harnessed. Looking forward to that one.
Next is Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers. I’ve had this one on my pile for well over a year. I keep starting it, but setting it aside because I don’t have enough time or energy in one sitting to read it and I feel like I want to devour it in one sitting. I need to get over that. I’ve heard nothing but great about this one, so I’m excited to finally read it through – not just the first two chapters.
My next selection is one that I have actually been picking at here and there already. If you’ve read my most recent post about my new-found self-employment, this will not be a surprise. The book is The 9-to-5 Cure by Kristin Cardinale. The title kind of covers it. Right about the time I started seriously thinking about finding a way beyond punching someone else’s time clock, I stumbled across this title and Cardinale’s blog. It was just what I needed to really ignite that spark. I want to finish all of it, though, not just the piecemeal method I’ve been using, so it’s high on the list.
Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods takes the next spot on the pile. The Hub grabbed this for me when he was in the bookstore at our favorite hiking spot several months ago. I had picked up the book and put it back on the shelf about six different times, always promising to grab it somewhere when I saw a better price. I never did buy it and he surprised me with it when he took his solo trip up there to photograph the mountain in the snow. I had it on my nightstand, but shelved it during The Great Clean and Purge and kind of forgot about it until I saw it on Allie’s list yesterday.
Finally, at the base of my pile are two books that I am keeping in the living room for quick-reads of small sections in each. These are more for ongoing research and information than a straight read-through. One is Healing Teas by Marie Nadine Antol. I picked this up over the summer when my Mom and I took a trip to Teavana for some teas and tea supplies. The cover tagline says it all – “how to prepare and use teas to maximize your health.” It’s fascinating and useful at the same time, covering everything from the history of tea-making to medicinal uses.
The other is The Woman’s Book of Healing Herbs by Sari Harrar and Sara Altshul O’Donnell, two lovely ladies I worked with at Prevention magazine. Sara was probably the first one who turned me on to natural and herbal cures. I refer to it often, but perhaps more in the last year or so than ever.
Oh, yes, and because I won’t be able to stand not reading something from my collection of Arthurian-related literature, I’ll probably dig into Sharan Newman’s Guinevere trilogy next. I read it forever ago and need to read again because I honestly can’t remember much of it.
That covers it for me and this list ought to keep me busy for a while. My plan is to intentionally take time to read from these every day. Perhaps if I stick to that plan, I’ll get through these in relatively short order!
What’s on your reading pile right now? What are your favorite things to read? What great book-related stories do you have to tell? Comments are where the best part of blogging happens, so share your thoughts!
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I read some Hemmingway in high school, but I can’t remember which ones I read. I think I liked him though. I’ll have to check out Snows of Kilimanjaro. The herb book sounds intriguing. I’m into the natural cure route too.
That sounds about right for high school Hemingway reads, Lori! 😀 But he is very likeable – at least I think so. “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” was the one that converted me.
This herb book is great – so much information, great sidebars and boxes to highlight information, lovely illustrations. I’m really enjoying revisiting this one!
Oh, Lord have mercy, now your blog is shutting me out. My extremely long comment just disappeared. Trying again:
I know, I know. I should read more, too. Not just news articles and blog posts, but real life books. I did just make a trip by myself to the Friends of the Library Book Sale and picked up five or six books to add to my already large to-read pile. I’m pretty excited about some of them.
1. I like your take on Hemingway. I had the same overly confident high school girl reaction to TOMATS when I read it for school. I’ve never actually reread it, though. I know someone who swears everyone should read TSAR (are you getting my acronyms?) upon graduating from high school.
I had a great uncle who met Hemingway once. He was in the Merchant Marines (my great-uncle) and sat next to Hemingway in a bar in…Cuba, I guess. At one point my great-uncle said, “Are you who I think you are?” And the large, bearded man next to him said, “Who do you think I am?” My great-uncle then asked him to sign a dollar bill. I wonder where that bill is now.
2. Keep me posted on that ADHD book. I may need to read it.
3. I’m having a strangely contrary reaction to Malcolm Gladwell. I don’t know why. The more I hear people rave about his books, the more I feel less inclined to read them. Why is my contrariness manifesting itself with MG? I have no idea.
4. I like Bill Bryson. He’s funny and chock-full of info, but I am often tired of his books before I finish reading them. I’ve read enough to find this is a consistent reaction, and I think it’s because his books are so chock-full. My brain just gets overloaded.
OK, I am going to wrap up this longest comment ever, but know this, I usually skip over people’s book lists because I know I can’t add more titles to my pile, but I read yours!
My computer behaved like a total jerk all day yesterday, so maybe there’s a thing. I’ll get my resident tech guy on it. 🙂
I do get your acronyms. I just came off fifteen years in the classroom and I abbreviate all my titles that way! And I agree that you should read TSAR after high school.
No WAY – your uncle met Hemingway??? That is awesome.
I will definitely let you know how the ADHD book is – I’ve been sitting on this one for months.
I wonder why you feel that way about Gladwell? Interesting. My Mom has read all of his and liked two of them much better than any of the others. Maybe you’re just responding to the hype with an anti-interest? I know my ODD streak can do that. I also tend to hate on the current pop culture trends, though, just on general principle. Maybe there’s something wrong with us…
Thanks for reading my book list. I kind of assume people will skip a book list, but you never know. 🙂
Yeah, it’s definitely just a rebellion against the prevailing winds. Sometimes I get that impulse.
Yeah, I understand that!
I always am interested to see different people’s book lists. Such different choices! I guess I’m just impressed that people plan ahead what they are going to read!
I’m always interested in other people’s lists, Jerralea, and sometimes get good ideas. I do often pick a pile and plan…but I can’t say I always manage to follow through quite the way I intend!
I had 3 Hemingway books on my high school reading lists. Didn’t like any of them. I’m cool with that!
I am currently re-reading something from junior year of high school – My Antonia by Willa Cather. All I remembered about it was one particular scene and that it was good. I’m half way through and loving it all over again.
I’m also currently listening (I love audio books) to Brave New World, which I read my senior year of high school and a couple times after that. In high school I didn’t view it as a dystopian world. It seemed rather wonderful to me.
I think you will A Walk in the Woods. It is hilarious!
Hah – that’s funny, Tammy. That’s about how I feel about “Wicked” – only book I have ever totally loathed and could not finish and I’m OK with it. 🙂
My Antonia – it’s been a long time since I read that one. I seem to remember a movie version years ago with Neil Patrick Harris in it.
I find most Bryson hilarious. Someone told me once that my writing reminded her of him. Maybe we could’ve been buds!
Wow, that is quite a pile to work through! I really really REALLY wish I read more and I have two books sitting next to my computer just waiting for me to look at them…and I continue to be distracted by other things. Someday…
Well, that’s my big problem, too, Kat – I get so easily distracted by pretty much everything else!
I have the opposite problem. I’m such a slow, bite-size type of reader that I very rarely finish anything quickly (the only exception to this was reading Game of Thrones, before it became a HBO series, 800+ pages completed in two weeks – that was quite a big deal for me). I read Hemingway for the first time last year, Old Man & The Sea being my first taste of him (loved it), followed by, yep, Snows of Kilamanjaro, which I’m still reading (like I said, I’m pretty slow) but am enjoying. I’m a huge Gladwell fan, although I tend to prefer his article-essays to his books. I’m yet to read any Bill Bryson, although I’ve heard his name enough times at this point that I know I’m gonna have to check out some of this stuff. But it’s funny with reading, it’s one of those things that I always enjoy once I get around to doing it, but often feel reticent to actually sit down and do. Weird, I know.
My Hub reads that way – slow, but steady. And he goes through spurts, too, where he’ll read regularly, then not pick up anything for a while.
I’m very interested in the Game of Thrones series, but just have no room on the pile for it now. Looks right up my alley, though.
The great thing about reading, though, is that no matter how or what you read, no matter how often you take time to do it, there’s something for everyone.
Always good to have someone to talk Hemingway with, Lisa. Given these comments, I wonder if Hemingway appeals more to men than women? Because I’d like to be like him someday, as a writer, at least.
I need to take a trip so I can pull out Sun Also Rises again. As you know, that’s my go-to. I also have a Pat Conroy on the shelf that won’t read itself.
You could have something there, Eli. I think his writing style is much more like the language men prefer – concise, direct. On the whole, women tend to prefer more descriptive detail, more insight into what makes a character tick. That said, it’s best to acknowledge here that this is an incredibly stereotypical read on which gender seems to prefer Hemingway. But then again, I can’t think of too many females I’ve ever met who said they loved him. And in all the years I taught American lit, it was always the male students who seemed to take to the selections better. An interesting debate, perhaps.
Pat Conroy is one I haven’t thought about in years. He lived and taught in the town where my Husband’s parents like to vacation, so they have a particular interest in him.
You know, I have been thinking about this question of whether men like Hemingway more than women. Hemingway was part of a period when the culture of machismo was pretty strong; men were expected to engage in manly sports like fighting and gun-slinging and bullfighting and do things like go on safari and hunt. Think about it – it was sort of a brutal masculinity and I think his style is reflective of that.
The Old Man and the Sea can be a tough read for a high school student. yeah, it’s short, but the style gets them. It’s a little too slow for today’s fast paced environment.
I’ve been reading a lot this year, I have about 35 or so books read. Right now, I’m finishing up Starship Troopers. It’s different from the movie, but I like both. After that I’m going back into my John Steinbeck phase. I’m trying to read all his books (mostly in order of publication too – mostly) I’m about a third of the way through his canon. Some good stuff there, but I’m ready to get to Of Mice and Men.
I agree, the Old Man can be tough for high-school. You make a good point about its slow pace being out of tough with today’s world.
Steinbeck is another of my favorites. Of Mice and Men is a good one – and a quick read, compared to some of his others. Great allegory – curious to hear your thoughts on that one.